Buddhism On The Rise In Mongolia

MANDSHIRE, MONGOLIA — Buddhism is making a comeback in Mongolia, half a century after its temples were closed and thousands of monks killed during a period of bitter Communist suppression.

At the soaring hillside ruins of Mandshire Monastery, an hour`s drive from Ulan Bator, services have been revived in two small ger (Mongolian-style felt tents). Elderly monks, joined by a number of young acolytes, recite sutras in unison while laymen and women crowd into the tent or peer in from the doorway.

The scene, being repeated at many former temples throughout the country, is one aspect of the growing atmosphere of democracy in Mongolia.

``Religion is one of the symbols of democracy,`` says the Venerable Dambajav. ``We could not go into temples, we could not live in monasteries.`` Dambajav is the abbot of an old monastery in Ulan Bator that was reopened in July.

Buddhism reached Mongolia from Tibet hundreds of years ago. Many of the

``Living Buddhas`` who reigned as secular and religious monarchs in Urga

(the former name of Ulan Bator) were Tibetan. The last ruler died in 1924, three years after the Communists came to power.

In Gandan, Ulan Bator`s main temple and until last year the only functioning place of worship in Mongolia, there is a throne reserved for the exiled Dalai Lama.

For a while, communism coexisted with Buddhism. In the 1930s, however, Mongolia`s dictator, Choibalsan, almost exterminated the outward

manifestations of Buddhism. Monks were arrested, tortured, publicly tried, and either killed or forced to leave the priesthood.

``I remained a Buddhist in my heart,`` says Namsrai, a former monk at Mandshire who was a herdsman for 50 years and has just returned to the priesthood.

Today, nearly 40 of the more than 740 monasteries closed during the repression have been or are being revived.

The Venerable Dagvadorji, abbot of Gandan, is also head of the Mongolian Buddhist church. Recently he sat cross-legged on his throne, his faded orange and yellow robes matching the grand but faded decor of his chapel. ``Our people are more free, and so is Gandan Monastery,`` he says.

All the new political parties that have sprung up this year advocate freedom of religion, and the Communists now say that monks may become party members.

Young people are making a commitment to the priesthood. Lhagvademchig is a 19-year-old who became a monk right after graduating from high school.

``In the 9th grade I had a friend who began studying Buddhist teachings,`` he says. Influenced by this friend, he made a decision to become a monk.

He knew Buddhists had been persecuted in the past, and if such a period came again, even if he should be forced to leave the priesthood, ``I will continue to believe in Buddhism`s teachings.``